November 26, 2008
I couldn’t help but shed a tear when the Treasures After School Program that I work with went to Timberline Ranch. We were given an amazing opportunity from the ranch for our 6 kids, ages 8-11 years, to have a day of fun. Boy was it ever; the kids were smiling from ear to ear!We did archery, team building exercises, played with farmyard animals and best of all horse back riding. It was a long day for the kids but a great way to spend a pro-d day for them since most of them had never been to a ranch before; not to mention even thought of getting to ride a horse. It was priceless to see their faces as they would repeatedly tell us the name of the horse they were riding while also narrating the whole experience from how the horse was walking, to what cat was following us through the trails. It was very cute.
What touched me that day was when quietly during lunch my co worker and I were able to teach the kids an important lesson. It all started when it was noticed the kids were playfully teasing one of the girls at the lunch table, to the point that she started to cry. Not thinking to apologize, they proceeded to tell us what had happened. We decided this was a good learning experience for the kids. We explained that all the little details of what happened didn’t matter but what was important was to apologize. After we put our lunches away and went outside, the girls were quite upset about the whole affair.
It was very obvious they were feeling really bad, and wanted to finish the game they had been playing but were very uncomfortable. Amazingly, as I walked over to their group of tears I noticed that they started apologizing (on their own) to the one who was picked on, following it by a compliment about what they liked about her, which then, was returned. Not only that, we were all hearing more that just one compliment!
It was so special to observe them finish the game on their own and to see how much they all care about each other, because they really do. In the end 3 of the 4 girls ended up hugging while wiping away their tears.
One of girl was still unable to say anything nice and we could tell it was hurting her inside. Trying to hold back her tears she had shot down the idea, it almost looked as if she thought she was undeserving of a compliment, feeling very guilty. After some reflection it became clear that at home these kids don’t often hear positive things from the people they love.
With that said it’s not so natural/positive for them to say positive things to others. It made me so sad but yet I felt so blessed at the same time that I can help make these kids feel special because they are! It made me realize how important it is for us to be a positive role model to these kids, always reminding them how special they are and how they have so many amazing qualities that even their friends notice.
Just from the little push of this game they were so much closer. This experience was more than just a trip to the ranch. It made our bonds with the children a lot stronger and opened our eyes to some of their needs. Things many of us take for granted, such as compliments and positive relationships, are something not every person is exposed to on a regular basis. Our goal is to continue to allow the kids to experience compliments and positive relationships/role models…plus, we now see that we really need to play that game more often.
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